CFP: [General] Northern Heterotopias

full name / name of organization:

Jacob Bachinger

contact email:

jbachinger@ucn.ca

"Northern Heterotopias"

In a 1967 lecture entitled â€˜Of Other Spacesâ€™ [Des espaces autres] MichelFoucault elaborated on his lifelong fascination with space and spatialmetaphors and presented the idea of heterotopia(s) through which hechallenged dominant, unilateral ways to think about space and place.Foucault called our attention to the many â€œcounter-sitesâ€, or multipleimaginations, experiences and inscriptions of space and identity, thatcan be found beyond the â€œfundamentally unrealâ€ discourse of dominantutopias that seek to define, regulate, and confine particular places andpeople. In contrast to utopias, then, heterotopias â€œjuxtapos[e] in asingle real place several spaces, several sites that are themselvesincompatible.â€ (Foucault, 1986 [1967] p25).

Digressing from Foucaultâ€™s original coinage of the term to re-conceptualize specific sites and places (cemeteries, cinemas, boats,brothels, etc), we interpret the idea of heterotopia, and the mappinglogic of heterotopology, as an alternative way to think of the experienceof space as a whole, and a conceptual lens through which to analyze andbring to light the multiple imaginations, experiences, embodiments, andinscriptions of space and place that are inherent in all sites.

What, then, would a heterotopology of the (idea of) North look like?

For this conference, we invite scholars, artists, storytellers, writers,poets and activists to examine different ideas, imaginations,experiences, and inscriptions of the North beyond hegemonic conceptions(the Great â€œWhiteâ€ North; hegemonic articulations of indigenism; theNorth and its â€˜untapped resourcesâ€™, etc.).

We leave it up to participants to navigate through that contested space(discursive, physical, human) that is the North, and to identify bothNorthern utopias (or hegemonies) and the counter-sites they have silenced.

Thus, we hope to bring together a broad range of voices and experiencesthat highlight the fundamentally plural (contradictory? cacophonic?contrapuntal? heteroglossic?) and heterotopic nature of the North.

We are particularly interested in papers that address the followingissues:*Identity*Migration, diaspora and metissage*Critical Indigenous perspectives*New epistemologies*Race, gender and sexuality*Queer Issues*Globalization and transnationalism*Art as Resistance*Critical pedagogies

DeadlineTo be considered, an abstract or paper must be received no later thanJanuary 15th, 2009.

Submission DetailThe abstract or title page must include:the name, affiliation, email address and telephone number of theprincipal presentername(s) of co-presenters/co-authorsa brief biography of each author/presenter

Submissions using one of the following methods:

Email attachment (PDF or Word) to:

sveissiere_at_ucn.ca

Fax to:

Attn: Dr. Samuel Veissiere(204) 677-6589

Mail to:

University College of the NorthAttn: Dr. Samuel Veissiere504 Princeton DriveThompson MB R8N 0A5

More information available via the University College of the Northhomepage: